A typical fuel injection system for a spark-ignited internal combustion engine that powers an automotive vehicle comprises a fuel pressure regulator that regulates the pressure of fuel that is supplied to the fuel injectors. A common practice is to mount the fuel pressure regulator in the fuel rail.
Remote mounting of the fuel pressure regulator, separate from the fuel rail, may be desirable, and it is toward this objective that the present invention is directed. Remote mounting may be desirable for different reasons, such as space constraints within the engine compartment for example.
According to principles of the invention, the fuel pressure regulator is mounted in the engine compartment, but not on the engine. Such an off-engine mounting comprises a body having a receptacle, a fuel pressure regulator disposed in, and sealed in fluid-tight manner to, the receptacle, three fuel ports, first internal passageway structure that is common to a first one of the three fuel ports, to a second one of the three fuel ports, and to the fuel inlet of the fuel pressure regulator, and second internal passageway structure that is common to a third of the three fuel ports and to the return port of the fuel pressure regulator. When the body is installed in a fuel injection system in an automotive vehicle, a first conduit communicates the first fuel port to a pump that delivers pressurized fuel that is to be pressure-regulated by the fuel pressure regulator, a second conduit communicates the second fuel port to the fuel injectors, and a third conduit communicates the third fuel port to the fuel tank.
The body is a synthetic material comprising a through-hole that intersects neither the receptacle nor the two passageway structures, and a tubular metal insert, or bushing, is disposed in this through-hole. A screw is used to fasten the body to the engine compartment. The screw's shank passes through the insert to engage the engine compartment, and the screw is tightened. The insert is rotatable within the through-hole prior to final tightening of the screw so that the tightening of the screw does not tend to twist the body out of a desired orientation on the engine compartment.
At least one of the three fuel ports is a nipple that is an integral formation of the body. The associated conduit is a flexible hose having an end that telescopes over the nipple. Each of two levers is pivotally mounted integrally on the body proximate the nipple by a living hinge connection with the body so as to be selectively operable from a non-force-applying position which applies no force on the flexible hose end to a force-applying position which applies force. The two levers are diametrically opposite each other about the nipple.
Each lever comprises a free end spaced from its living hinge connection with the body, and the body comprises, for each lever, a corresponding integral catch. Each living hinge connection is disposed proximate the distal end of the nipple, and the catches are disposed proximate the proximal end of the nipple. The free end of each lever is caught by the corresponding catch when it is in its force-applying position. Each lever includes between its living hinge connection to the body and its free end, a projection that extends laterally away from the lever, and that forcefully bears against the flexible hose end when in its force-applying position so as to pinch the flexible hose end against the nipple. The nipple comprises two axially spaced apart circumferentially extending barbs and the projections bear against the flexible hose end at a location between the two barbs.
The body further comprises a protective wall circumferentially bounding the nipple in outwardly spaced relation to the nipple, and the levers form a portion of the protective wall when in their force-applying positions.
A bracket keeps the fuel pressure regulator in the receptacle. It has a tab that passes through an aperture in the protective wall and has an interference with the protective wall for positioning the bracket to keep the fuel pressure regulator in the receptacle.
Features that are believed to constitute patentable subject matter are defined in the claims. Drawings accompany the disclosure and present a presently preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode contemplated at this time for carrying out the invention.